Buchanan’s Clotted Cream Fudge

When I was in London last time, my mother and I went to Portobello Road to the flea market. While there we stopped in a little basement cafe to get some coffee and had what turned out to be the best scone of my life. It was served with clotted cream. As far as I can tell, clotted cream is a cross between super-fatty butter and unsweetened whipped cream. I have no problem with either of those.

When I saw this Buchanan’s Scottish Clotted Cream Fudge at Bristol Farms over the weekend I thought about my positive experience with the clotted cream part of the name. I know that Scottish fudge is rather different from American fudge (notably that it’s not chocolate), kind of like a grainy caramel. Think of it as a cross between dulce de leche (or cajeta) and penuche.

Upon getting it home and reading the package, it didn’t sound quite as fun as the scone experience: Sugar, Corn Syrup, Milk, Vegetable Oil, Butter, Clotted Cream, Salt, Soy Lecithin, Mono & Diglycerides, Natural & Artificial Flavors. Well, color me bummed. Clotted Cream way down there by salt (of which there is approximately 212 mgs)? Piffle.

Well, I paid $5.99 for a quarter of a pound of it, I had to give it a try.

The package is long and narrow. Inside are two little bars. Each bar is pre-scored into six little pieces.

I have to say, it smelled fresh, like caramel and butter. And they do look fresh and stunning. The bite is quite soft, like a Kraft Caramel. It’s not chewy, but also not quite as grainy as fudge can be. The smooth kind of pliable dough does dissolve into a slight sugary grain, but also releases some bold toasted sugar and butter flavors.

It’s a nice vanilla fudge, but not worth $24 a pound. But now I want to try the fresh and wholesome stuff in Scotland, not stuff with artificial flavors and barely a splash of real clotted cream.